Vibratory material handling device with variable force application

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for performing work on material through vibration. An elongated material receiving surface is provided along with a mount for the same that permits the surface to be vibrated. A vibrating mechanism including two spaced vibratory force generating devices may be adjustably secured to the material receiving surface in any of a variety of positions with respect to the center of gravity of the latter so that the direction of the vibratory force applied to the material receiving surface may be varied.

United States Patent [1 1 Musschoot Mar. 12, 1974 [54] VIBRATORYMATERIAL HANDLING 3,648,862 3/1972 S ugirnoto 198/220 DB X DEVICE WITHVARIABLE FORCE FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATl N APPLICATION O S 62,1366/1955 France 209/367 [75] Inventor: Albert Musschoot, Barrington, Ill.

[73] Assignee: General Kinematics Corporation, Primary ExaminerEdward A.Sroka Barrington, Ill. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hofgren, Wegner, Allen,22 Filed: July 8, 1971 Stenma & Mccmd [21] Appl. No.: 160,679 [57]ABSTRACT V An apparatus for performing work on material [22] throughvibration An elongated material receiving E i 87 surface is providedalong with a mount for the same 1 le 0 care 269/326 that permits thesurface to be vibrated. A vibrating mechanism including two spacedvibratory force generating devices may be adjustably secured to themate- [56] References Clted rial receiving surface in any of a varietyof positions UNITED STATES PATENTS with respect to the center of gravityof the latter so 2,312,477 3/1943 Pollitz 209/329 that the direction ofthe vibratory force applied to the 2,200,724 5/1940 Robins... 198/220 DBX material receiving surface may be variecL 3,226,989 vH1966 Robins...198/220 DB X 3,053,379 9/1962 Roder l98/220 DB 1 Claim, 6 DrawingFigures PMENIEU MRI 2 i974 I 721/6 weri/ ffusscioi VIBRATORY MATERIALHANDLING DEVICE WITH VARIABLE FORCE APPLICATION BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to material handling vibratory devicessuch as material classifiers or vibratory conveyors.

Oftentimes, material handling vibratory devices are called upon tohandle different types of material having different characteristicswhich must be compensated for in a vibratory driving mechanism to insureproper handling. In such cases, rather severe adjustments have had to bemade to a system when the same is to operate on a different materialfrom that on which it was previ ously operating. The adjustments areoften time consuming, and in some cases, rather intricate and thus thereis a very real need for a vibratory, material handling device that maybe easily adjusted to accommodate different materials having differenthandling characteristics or which may be adjusted to handle a singlematerial in different ways as exigencies of a particular situation mayrequire.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the principal object of the invention toprovide a new and improved vibratory material handling device which maybe easily adjusted to change the vibratory forces applied to a materialhandling device to accommodate ditferent materials or different types oftreatment of the same material.

The exemplary embodiment of the invention achieves the foregoing objectby means of a construction including a material handling deviceincluding a material receiving surface mounted for vibratory movement tobe imparted thereto by a vibrating means. According to the preferredembodiment, a vibrating means in the form of a pair of independent,spaced, vibratory force imparting means is employed and means areprovided whereby the vibratory device may be connected to the materialhandling device at a variety of different locations without changing theattitude of the former with respect to the latter for ease ofadjustment. According to one embodiment, the vibratory force generatingdevices comprise rotary motors driving eccentric weights about spaced,but parallel axes. By changing the location of the vibratory mechanismwith respect to the center of gravity of the material handling device,the direction of application of vibratory force may be altered andchosen to accommodate various handling characteristics of differentmaterials or to provide different types of material handling for asingle type of material.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingspecification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side elevation of a vibratorymaterial handling device made according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a substantially vertical section taken approximately along theline 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of the vibratory mechanism employed;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustrating the direction of vibratory forceapplication for one position of the vibratory mechanism relative to thematerial handling de- DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Beforeentering a detailed discussion of structure employed in the invention,to assist in understanding the invention, it should be observed that ithas been discov ered by the applicant that the direction of forceapplication to a material handling device by a vibratory mechanism of aparticular type can be altered by changing the position of the vibratorydevice relative to the material handling device and specifically, thecenter of gravity of the latter.

As is generally alluded to in the preceding paragraph, a particular typeof vibratory device is required and specifically, one that generatesbi-directional vibratory forces at two spaced points. The direction ofapplication of force to the material handling device will then be alonga line drawn between the mid-point of a line extending between the twopoints of force generation and the center of gravity of the materialhandling device. Thus, by moving the position of a vibratory mechanismof the character mentioned with respect to the center of gravity of amaterial handling device, the direction of application of force to thematerial handling device can be varied.

This phenomenon can be used to change the conveying direction of avibratory conveyor, the rate of conveying in a particular direction or,in the case of a particle classifier, the magnitude of vibratory motionimparted to the material being classified.

One fonn of an apparatus embodying the foregoing principle asillustrated in the drawings and with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 is seento include a trough-like member generally designated 10 having animperforate bottom 12 and upwardly spaced classifying screens I4 and 16.The screens 14 and 16 are secured in their spaced relation asillustrated in FIG. 2 by cross members 18 and screen retaining brackets20, neither of which form a part of the instant invention.

At the upper end of the trough-like member 10, a vibratory mechanism,generally designated 22 is mounted by means of bolts 24 and nuts 26extending through apertures 28 in the upper side walls of thetrough-like member 10. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a greater number of theapertures 28 are provided than are necessary for securing the vibratingmechanism 22 to the trough-like member 10 so that the position of theformer with respect to the latter may be selectively varied.

The trough-like member 10 is mounted for vibratory movement by means ofupstanding cars 30 mounting eyelets 32 for receipt of suspenditorycables 34.

The vibratory mechanism 22 comprises a pair of spaced vibratory devices,each generally designated 36.

As can be observed in FIGS. 2 and 3, each vibratory device 36 comprisesan electric motor 38 having a rotary output shaft with opposed ends 40,each eccentrically mounting weights 42. According to the preferredembodiment, there is no connection between the motors 38 such as anelectrical or a mechanical connection. Such is not necessary for inoperation it has been found that the two motors will tend to synchronizewith each other at the same speed. Preferably, the direction of rotationof the output shafts of the motors 38 is opposite so that only abi-directional total force will be applied to the material handlingdevice in the form of the trough-like member 10, sideways forcescancelling out by reason of the opposite direction of rotation of theweights 42. i

Normally, with such a system, one would believe that the direction offorce application would be perpendicular to a plane 50 encompassing theparallel shafts'40 of the motors 38. However, as mentioned previously,it has been found that the direction of force application is actuallyalong a' line extending from a point 52 midway between the shafts 40 onthe plane 50 and the center of gravity 54 of the material handlingdevice. As a result, when the vibratory mechanism 22 is in the positionsshown in solid line in FIG. 1, force will be applied in the direction ofthe line 56. If the vibratory mechacenter of gravity is, of course, dueto the change in location of the vibratory mechanism which is rigidlysecured to the material handling device.

FIGS. 4-6, inclusive, illustratevarious orientations that may beachieved, all without changing the attitude of the vibratory mechanism22 with respect to the troughlike material handling device 10. In FIG.4, force will be applied along the line 60 which would result inmaterial being conveyed toward the right at a relatively rapid rate. InFIG. 5, no conveying action would be present. Rather, the material wouldbe vibrated in a vertical direction represented by the line 62. In FIG.6, a slow conveying rate toward the left would prevail by reason offorce application along the line 64 As a result of the foregoingconstruction, it will be appreciated that material conveying rates mayalter according to the invention or, if desired, the same may be usedfor pure classification purposes. One particular advantage to thisapplication is for combination classifying and conveying. Byappropriately positioning the vibratory mechanism with respect to thetrough-like member 10, conveying action may be obtained with materialresidence time sufficient to insure full and complete classification.

Thus, by movement of appropriate vibratory force generating means withrespect to the center of gravity of the material handling device, eitherby translation as specifically disclosed, rotation (so long as therotation is not about an axis coinciding with the point- 52) orcombinations thereof, the direction of force application to the materialhandling device can be selectively varied.

And it will be appreciated that the foregoing features and advantagesmay all be obtained'whilc minimizing time consuming adjustments, itmerely being necessary to remove the bolts securing the vibratingmechanism 22 to the trough-like member 10, shift the latter andreconnect the same; and no expensive equipment for varying the speed ofthe motors or for varying the tuning of resilient spring systems or thelike is required.

1. A vibratory material handling device comprising: means defining anelongated surface adapted to carry material to be worked upon;a pair ofparallel walls on either side of said surface and extending in thedirection of elongation thereof; a vibratory mechanism including aframe, a pair of spaced parallel shafts rotatably mounted in the frameand. extending transversely of the direction of elongation of thematerial carrying surface, an eccentric weight at each end of eachshaft, means for rotating one of said shafts, independent means forrotating the other of said shafts, said frame carrying said shafts androtating means in fixed position relative to each other; means mountingsaid material carrying surface for vibratory movement, means on saidwalls defining aguide path therealong and providing means for securingthe vibratory mechanism thereto; and-means for selectively fasteningsaid vibratory mechanism to said securing means at varying points spacedalong the guide path to locate the midpoint of a line joining saidshafts in a first position on one side of the center of gravity of thedevice, in a second position where the mid-point is vertically alignedwith the center of gravity of said device, and in a third position wheresaid mid-point is on the other side of the center of gravity, whereby tocause said device to convey material thereon in one direction when thevibra" tory mechanism is in said first position, in the oppositedirection when the vibratory mechanism'is in the third position, and tovibrate material without conveying the same when the vibratory mechanismis in the second position.

1. A vibratory material handling device comprising: means defining an elongated surface adapted to carry material to be worked upon; a pair of parallel walls on either side of said surface and extending in the direction of elongation thereof; a vibratory mechanism including a frame, a pair of spaced parallel shafts rotatably mounted in the frame and extending transversely of the direction of elongation of the material carrying surface, an eccentric weight at each end of each shaft, means for rotating one of said shafts, independent means for rotating the other of said shafts, said frame carrying said shafts and rotating means in fixed position relative to each other; means mounting said material carrying surface for vibratory movement, means on said walls defining a guide path therealong and providing means for securing the vibratory mechanism thereto; and means for selectively fastening said vibratory mechanism to said securing means at varying points spaced along the guide path to locate the mid-point of a line joining said shafts in a first position on one side of the center of gravity of the device, in a second position where the mid-point is vertically aligned with thE center of gravity of said device, and in a third position where said mid-point is on the other side of the center of gravity, whereby to cause said device to convey material thereon in one direction when the vibratory mechanism is in said first position, in the opposite direction when the vibratory mechanism is in the third position, and to vibrate material without conveying the same when the vibratory mechanism is in the second position. 